KissMyHuman
New member
Welcome to the weight loss survival guide. You're probably new to the forums for whatever reason: maybe you're a fed up yo-yo dieter, maybe you're a older or younger individual who understands that you need to lose weight for your health in the long run, you want to look better, or any number of other reasons. Now this guide won't get into the technical aspects of dieting too much because a lot of that has to be individualized, at least a little, to be very effective. This guide will go over the basics along with some other things. http://weight-loss.fitness.com/newcomers/11548-rant-about-basic-concepts-i.html is a good post to read, it'll go over some misconceptions when it comes to the technical stuff.
1. How weight gain and loss works and how to kick off your diet
A pound of fat stores approximately 3500 calories, or 7700 calories per kilogram. For every 3500 calories you consume that your body does not use and stores, you will gain one pound of fat. For every 3500 calories you burn off beyond what is needed to live you will lose one pound. If you're fairly overweight then the calories you burn will all be from fat. If you're closer to a leaner and healthy weight then your body might struggle to keep those fat stores and opt to burn some muscle along with them, but any form of resistance or weight training will decrease muscle loss. Suffice it to say you gain weight by eating more calories than you use, and you lose weight by using more calories than you eat.
Now the first step in a diet is to find out how many calories you need to keep you alive on a daily basis, you know enough to keep your heart beating and you breathing, etc. You need to calculate your BRM, your basal metabolic rate BMR Calculator. You then need to multiply that by your activity level Harris Benedict Equation to arrive to your daily caloric needs. You can see that weight is a variable so as you lose, you need to check this periodically and adjust your diet and exercise as needed. Lets take me for an example, I'm a 20 year old male who is 5'9", as of writing this I'm 179, and I exercise about 4-6 days a week pretty vigorously. That would put my daily caloric needs at around 2,880, the amount I would need to eat just to maintain my weight.
But you're saying you want to lose weight not maintain it. The basis of any exercise and diet routine is to create that caloric deficit, using more calories than you take in. Now for someone who is mildly overweight, a healthy rate of weight loss is 2 pounds a week or 7000 calories. Thats 500 calories a day burned by exercise and daily activity and a 500 calorie reduction in diet.
You may think this is daunting because you jump on the treadmill to walk for an hour and see 120 calories burned. Besides the fact that those calorie counters are wildly inaccurate, think about your daily activities like using the stairs instead of the elevator, walking around on your work breaks, taking an hour to clean and vacuum the house; you're moving around, it all counts.
With that in mind, exercise is inefficient in one key way. It's a hell or a lot easier to not eat that candy bar or drink that soda than it is to burn it off and that brings us to the next section...
2. How calories and eating habits creep up on us
Lets face the facts, very few of us would gain weight if we were much more active and our meals consisted of a piece of chicken, a salad, some peas and carrots and some rice. We gain weight from being lazy and having dirt poor eating habits. It's that 20oz soda with lunch, those Cheez-its or potato chips as we sit and watch tv. You have to be prepared to cut back or totally give some things up to be healthier. If you're at a loss, then try writing down everything you drink and eat for the next few days and then highlight anything they didn't have a century ago. You'll see real quick these processed and junk foods are the culprits, nutritionally poor and full of calories.
A recent study found that the average American drinks 1/3 of their daily caloric needs in the form of high calorie beverages like milk, juice, sugar juice drinks, and sodas. Ignoring what you drink as a contributing factor to your weight is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. That medium Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks is 270 calories, that medium Withe Chocolate Mocha is an astounding 510 calories, that soda or juice drink 120-200 calories, that cup of 2% milk 140 calories. Those numbers add up. Don't overlook the power of the best beverage on the world you can drink: water. It's one of the major fuels your body runs with and it's zero calories. Well you say "Isn't milk and 100% juice healthy?" Sure but make sure they fit within your caloric needs and on a personal note I think it's better to eat the fruit than to drink it, the fiber makes you feel fuller for longer and there are more nutrients than the processed store bought varieties.
3. Set a goal and get ready to be uncomfortable
You're going to feel hungry and you're going to feel exhausted after working out. If losing weight was comfortable and relaxing, you wouldn't be here. Those fad 72 hour diets and exercise in a bottle pills are out! It's time to commit yourself to a long term solution for your health above all else, and maybe even a total lifestyle change.
So what kind of goals are we talking about? There's all kinds and maybe some will work better than others for you. Maybe you're a someone who wants to lose 15 pounds for a family reunion in 6 months. Be realistic with yourself at this point. You aren't going to lose 30 pounds in time for your birthday in 3 weeks. If you're a yo-yo dieter then it's time to get rid of the scale, you've been chasing that number for far too long. Concentrate on losing inches, think of a fitness goal, or a nutrition goal. If you're overweight and can only jog for a few minutes then try to exercise to the point where you can jog a mile in a very mild pace of 12 mins. Maybe a beginning nutrition goal is to cut out all soda and sweets and to have healthier snacks like carrot and celery sticks. Your goal doesn't need to be your end all goal, maybe you set a new one each month. That is totally ok. If you don't reach your goal, don't beat yourself up over it, just think of how much better off you are now than when you started.
4. Learn everything you can
Go ahead and buy some books on weight lifting or nutrition. Even if you're a beginner, understanding what you're doing even a little bit will give you more confidence when reaching a goal. Don't take any one resource as the gospel since everyday researchers are making leaps and bounds in our understanding of the body.
5. Don't sweat the small stuff
Don't lose sleep over not doing every single little thing to make you healthier or improve your performance. If you drink beer and eat tv dinners every night, then even simple changes can help tremendously. You don't have to worry about using those amino acid supplements just yet. You have to use a chisel before you use the sandpaper.
6. Relax!
Seriously people, we're here to support you.
Feel free to post your thoughts or other entries to the survival guide.
1. How weight gain and loss works and how to kick off your diet
A pound of fat stores approximately 3500 calories, or 7700 calories per kilogram. For every 3500 calories you consume that your body does not use and stores, you will gain one pound of fat. For every 3500 calories you burn off beyond what is needed to live you will lose one pound. If you're fairly overweight then the calories you burn will all be from fat. If you're closer to a leaner and healthy weight then your body might struggle to keep those fat stores and opt to burn some muscle along with them, but any form of resistance or weight training will decrease muscle loss. Suffice it to say you gain weight by eating more calories than you use, and you lose weight by using more calories than you eat.
Now the first step in a diet is to find out how many calories you need to keep you alive on a daily basis, you know enough to keep your heart beating and you breathing, etc. You need to calculate your BRM, your basal metabolic rate BMR Calculator. You then need to multiply that by your activity level Harris Benedict Equation to arrive to your daily caloric needs. You can see that weight is a variable so as you lose, you need to check this periodically and adjust your diet and exercise as needed. Lets take me for an example, I'm a 20 year old male who is 5'9", as of writing this I'm 179, and I exercise about 4-6 days a week pretty vigorously. That would put my daily caloric needs at around 2,880, the amount I would need to eat just to maintain my weight.
But you're saying you want to lose weight not maintain it. The basis of any exercise and diet routine is to create that caloric deficit, using more calories than you take in. Now for someone who is mildly overweight, a healthy rate of weight loss is 2 pounds a week or 7000 calories. Thats 500 calories a day burned by exercise and daily activity and a 500 calorie reduction in diet.
You may think this is daunting because you jump on the treadmill to walk for an hour and see 120 calories burned. Besides the fact that those calorie counters are wildly inaccurate, think about your daily activities like using the stairs instead of the elevator, walking around on your work breaks, taking an hour to clean and vacuum the house; you're moving around, it all counts.
With that in mind, exercise is inefficient in one key way. It's a hell or a lot easier to not eat that candy bar or drink that soda than it is to burn it off and that brings us to the next section...
2. How calories and eating habits creep up on us
Lets face the facts, very few of us would gain weight if we were much more active and our meals consisted of a piece of chicken, a salad, some peas and carrots and some rice. We gain weight from being lazy and having dirt poor eating habits. It's that 20oz soda with lunch, those Cheez-its or potato chips as we sit and watch tv. You have to be prepared to cut back or totally give some things up to be healthier. If you're at a loss, then try writing down everything you drink and eat for the next few days and then highlight anything they didn't have a century ago. You'll see real quick these processed and junk foods are the culprits, nutritionally poor and full of calories.
A recent study found that the average American drinks 1/3 of their daily caloric needs in the form of high calorie beverages like milk, juice, sugar juice drinks, and sodas. Ignoring what you drink as a contributing factor to your weight is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. That medium Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks is 270 calories, that medium Withe Chocolate Mocha is an astounding 510 calories, that soda or juice drink 120-200 calories, that cup of 2% milk 140 calories. Those numbers add up. Don't overlook the power of the best beverage on the world you can drink: water. It's one of the major fuels your body runs with and it's zero calories. Well you say "Isn't milk and 100% juice healthy?" Sure but make sure they fit within your caloric needs and on a personal note I think it's better to eat the fruit than to drink it, the fiber makes you feel fuller for longer and there are more nutrients than the processed store bought varieties.
3. Set a goal and get ready to be uncomfortable
You're going to feel hungry and you're going to feel exhausted after working out. If losing weight was comfortable and relaxing, you wouldn't be here. Those fad 72 hour diets and exercise in a bottle pills are out! It's time to commit yourself to a long term solution for your health above all else, and maybe even a total lifestyle change.
So what kind of goals are we talking about? There's all kinds and maybe some will work better than others for you. Maybe you're a someone who wants to lose 15 pounds for a family reunion in 6 months. Be realistic with yourself at this point. You aren't going to lose 30 pounds in time for your birthday in 3 weeks. If you're a yo-yo dieter then it's time to get rid of the scale, you've been chasing that number for far too long. Concentrate on losing inches, think of a fitness goal, or a nutrition goal. If you're overweight and can only jog for a few minutes then try to exercise to the point where you can jog a mile in a very mild pace of 12 mins. Maybe a beginning nutrition goal is to cut out all soda and sweets and to have healthier snacks like carrot and celery sticks. Your goal doesn't need to be your end all goal, maybe you set a new one each month. That is totally ok. If you don't reach your goal, don't beat yourself up over it, just think of how much better off you are now than when you started.
4. Learn everything you can
Go ahead and buy some books on weight lifting or nutrition. Even if you're a beginner, understanding what you're doing even a little bit will give you more confidence when reaching a goal. Don't take any one resource as the gospel since everyday researchers are making leaps and bounds in our understanding of the body.
5. Don't sweat the small stuff
Don't lose sleep over not doing every single little thing to make you healthier or improve your performance. If you drink beer and eat tv dinners every night, then even simple changes can help tremendously. You don't have to worry about using those amino acid supplements just yet. You have to use a chisel before you use the sandpaper.
6. Relax!
Seriously people, we're here to support you.
Feel free to post your thoughts or other entries to the survival guide.
